On Sunday, I had to start the part of precontest week that I hate the most—drinking tons of water! I can barely function all week between visits to the bathroom! I can’t stand having to force myself to drink gallons of water, so when the time comes before contest to drop my water to a normal level, it is the greatest relief for me! Other competitors complain of dehydration and extreme thirst, while I am feeling so grateful that I don’t have to drink any water!

The workout schedule is changed up quite a bit, to fine-tune the physique to release any last little bit of bodyfat and water retention clouding the muscle definition. It’s generally an easier schedule, tapering off to allow the body to rest and recover for the last couple of days before the show, while still maintaining tight full muscles. It’s good that it’s not as intense, because with the lack of carbs, my energy is definitely low and it’s really hard to get the legs moving to do cardio!

Leaving It All On Stage

For the first time in my competitive career, I stepped on stage completely calm, confident, and knowing that I had done absolutely everything I possibly could have done to prepare for the competition. I had that feeling before, from a physical standpoint, but never from a posing standpoint. But this time, I knew I would be able to present a beautiful back pose, and that made all the difference for me, mentally.

I even SLEPT through the whole night before the morning pre-judging! That was unusual. I tend to lay awake the night before, or if I do sleep, I’ll have bad dreams that I missed the alarm or didn’t wake up in time or something like that. I have those dreams before almost any big thing that I have to get up early for—-I’m NOT a good early riser!

I knew my class was going to be huge, from the reports coming out pre-show. I got online and checked out the competitor list, and then searched to see who the other women were that would be onstage with me. I soon identified who the top competitors in past shows were, but that doesn’t mean anything—-it’s who looks the best on THAT DAY that matters! And anyone could come out of anywhere to impress the judges. All the judges can do is judge what they see in front of them on stage. Nothing else counts.

Is It A Sport, or Is It Art?

That’s why the posing is SO crucial! You can have the best physique in the world, but if you present it poorly, you won’t place. Our ’sport’ really is more of an art contest than a sporting event. Our chosen medium is not paint, clay, or marble. We create beautiful sculptures out of muscle tissue. The ’sport’ part of it comes in during the training sessions, where we slowly create new muscle mass and reveal it by releasing bodyfat, much like a sculptor releases an amazing statue out of a block of marble by chipping away the excess material until the final sculpture is revealed.

When we present our physiques onstage, all we are doing is presenting our personal sculpture in the most flattering way possible. And that is also why the judging is so difficult, and the results so often anger the viewers. It is completely subjective and opinionated. Who’s to say which piece of art is the ‘best’? Is it the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Statue of David, Monet’s Water Lilies, or any other of an endless variety of astounding displays of artistic genius? If one were to line all these up and then choose which one is the best, do you think that maybe there would be a variety of opinions? Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder. What is ‘art’ to one may be ‘junk’ to another.

My toughest competition isn’t standing next to me onstage. It’s not the beautiful women with amazing physiques who line up along with me to do quarter turns, and allow a judging panel to pick our physiques apart, looking for the tiniest flaws. Yes, that is what the judges do. EVERYONE looks great, or they wouldn’t even be there on stage at a national championship show. The judges have to find ways to separate the best from the rest, so they look for reasons–i.e. flaws–to NOT place a competitor.

My toughest competition is ME. I have to overcome my fears, limitations, cravings, weaknesses, exhaustion, hunger, and excuses to push my physique to be the best it can possibly be. No one else can do it for me. My competition is the dumbbells, barbells, cardio machines, bleachers, and track—all of which I must conquer and whip into submission on a daily basis. All I can do is be the best I can be. And I don’t know what that is.

People want to blame ‘genetics’. That’s an easy excuse. That’s a wimpy, lame, loser’s way out of really giving everything they have. Yes, some things you can’t change. You can’t change the width of your clavicle, or the length of your arms, or your bone structure, or your height. That is true. But EVERY workout you perform, where you push your body past where it has ever been, changes your DNA. It tears at the muscle fibers, creating a need for the body to repair those fibers bigger better and stronger, so that they are ready for the next threat you place on them. It creates a need for the body to consume energy from your fat stores, revealing more of that precious muscle. When does that ever really stop? How far can it go? What REALLY is your genetic potential? I say you’ll never know. No matter how far you go, when you get there, you can always see farther.

Taking ‘Hot-lanta’

When pre-judging finally arrived, I was so excited and honored to be one of the first five competitors called out for comparisons—out of nearly 50 spectacular physiques! I was way up on the riser at the back of the stage, because they had to shoehorn all of us on the stage to accommodate the huge numbers in the class. When they called my number, I couldn’t find the steps to get down off the riser to the front of the stage! Hahaha! I finally made it to center stage and performed my quarter turns along with the other four top competitors.

After our quarter turns, the judges dismissed us and we were allowed to exit the stage. Yay! It’s hard work to stand up there for long periods of time holding a very tight and uncomfortable pose, so I was glad my stage time was very brief. We were greeted by a host of photographers taking our picture as the Top Five. I had a feeling I was going to place somewhere around 5th, maybe 4th. One lady in particular was in demand by the photographers taking her aside for individual photographs, therefore I surmised she would be the winner. A great choice for sure, as she is a professional competitor in another bodybuilding federation, and is sponsored by GNC. (Wow!)

I was absolutely thrilled, and felt I was a winner no matter my placing. Sure enough, I was correct, and I won the fifth place trophy at the night show finals. The lady I thought would win placed third, and in the spirit of my original comment that anyone could come out of anywhere to win, a lovely new, relatively unknown competitor won the class and her pro card. The judges obviously made a good choice, because she went on to compete in a pro show shortly afterward, and placed third in her pro debut! So she was already good enough to be a top professional competitor.

Now, It’s ON!!!

With what I learned and the progress I made during the training and contest prep for the NPC Nationals, I feel like I am poised to win my pro card in 2011. I definitely still have some work to do, and improvements to make to my physique and stage presentation. Even before the NPC Nationals, Shannon had already given me my plan for the “Improvement Season”, as she calls it. So I already had my plan in hand to hit the ground running after the show, to make the most of the time given to me before the 2011 competition season commences.

For me, there is no such thing as an ‘off season’. No, I am not eating ‘normally’ or what most people would call ‘normal’. I do get to eat a WHOLE LOT MORE, though! I am in a growth mode again, to gain more muscle size and shape, and also to give my body and metabolism a chance to rest, reset, and recover from the extreme stress and rigors of contest dieting and preparation.

The workouts are great! I LOVE lifting heavy, and challenging myself, and I am able to work out in a more traditional bodybuilding style during Improvement Season. And there’s not nearly as much cardio to do. We do gain 5 to 10 pounds over contest weight, so I definitely don’t look as defined as I did for the contest. That’s hard, too. It’s very difficult mentally to look like that, and then to come down from it.

My goal is to win my IFBB Figure Pro Card in 2011. I know I can do it! I am dedicated, focused, and absolutely determined to let nothing stop me. I’ve declared war, and I’m going to win it! The lyrics to my new favorite workout song perfectly describe how I attack each training session!

Disturbed: “Indestructible”
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Click here to view the embedded video.

(You’ll have to click on it twice to watch it on You Tube!)
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“Another mission, The powers have called me away.
Another time, To carry the colors again.
My motivation, An oath I’ve sworn to defend.
To win the honor, Of coming back home again.
No explanation, Will matter after we begin.
Another dark destroyer that’s buried within,
My true vocation.
And now my unfortunate friend,
You will discover,
A war you’re unable to win.

I’ll have you know,
That I’ve become…

Indestructible.
Determination that is incorruptible.
From the other side.
A terror to behold.
Annihilation will be unavoidable.
Every broken enemy will know,
That their opponent had to be invincible.
Take a last look around while you’re alive,
I’m an indestructible master of war.

Another reason. Another cause for me to fight.
Another fuse uncovered, Now, for me to light.
My dedication, To all that I’ve sworn to protect.
I carry out my orders, Without a regret.
A declaration, Embedded deep under my skin.
A permanent reminder, Of how it began.
No hesitation, When I am commanded to strike.

You need to know,
That you’re in for the fight of your life.

You will be shown,
How I’ve become…

Indestructible.

Determination that is incorruptible.
From the other side.
A terror to behold.
Annihilation will be unavoidable.
Every broken enemy will know,
That their opponent had to be invincible.
Take a last look around while you’re alive,
I’m an indestructible master of war.”

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Be Defiant! Fight for your health!

And…..Fight for what you want most!

Christy

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This weekend was just wonderful. It was a great experience all the way around. We were never rushed or panicked. Everything was very well planned and organized, down to the last detail. That’s a great testament to Shannon and Rob. Backstage, all I had to do was get a glaze put on by the tanning people, and wait my turn. No problem!

I know deep in my heart that there was nothing else I could have done to get any more ready than I was, given the time I had to prepare. Am I as ready as I NEED to be? No WAY! But considering I just started this journey in August, with the plan of training for a small regional show, and then ended up at the biggest, most prestigious NPC Nationals show–and PLACED!!!–I am absolutely thrilled with my progress.

If you haven’t seen it online, I placed 12th in my class. That may not sound very impressive, but it was a big accomplishment. First of all, none of the judges had ever seen me before, didn’t know me from Adam’s housecat, and had not seen me progress over a series of shows. That’s a big deal. Human nature dictates that when you see a girl over and over, and she improves every show, and there a million good physiques on the stage in front of you, you tend to gravitate toward those you know have been on the circuit and working hard for a long time. Rob told me before the show, that even though I looked great, to expect to not even be called out, and certainly not to place in the top 15. He said it was just a matter of unfamiliarity, and that next year, when I am on the circuit, I would be a recognizable face and stand a much greater chance.

I was perfectly OK with that, so I went on stage with no pressure, just wanting to pose my best. And I ended up in the third callout, and I DID get noticed! Considering half of the girls in the top 10 have been in all kinds of magazines, websites, etc, and I held my own against the best bodies in the business–I felt great! Rob and Shannon were thrilled with the results. I didn’t even hit my back pose well , and I still made top 15! I am going to GET that back pose, if it KILLS ME!

One reason I screwed up one of my back poses was a bit of a mishap on stage. When we are doing our quarter turn comparisons, when we move from our side pose to our back pose, we are taught to step out a bit with the left foot to make the turn to the back. Well, when I stepped out, the girl beside me stepped RIGHT, and put her clear high heel right into my left foot! It hurt, and bled, and we both tripped a little. So I was way late on even getting turned around to pose! Oops! But you never know when something like that is going to happen, so you deal with it, and we both laughed about it back stage afterwards.

I definitely need to add size to my shoulders, back and legs. But then again, that is what I have known all along. I have come so far, and feel very confident that given the next 6 months to work on them, I will present a totally revamped package next season. I will be focused on adding size for the next few weeks, not dieting down for a competition, so it will be much easier to gain the muscle I need. Plus, I have all the faith in the world that Rob and Shannon will put together the perfect plan for me to make the gains I need to make. I just can’t wait to see it, and get rocking!

Shannon told me not to work out for an entire WEEK. Arrrggghhh!! That is SO hard for me! I actually feel really rested and recovered, since my final prep week was very laid back, and I am raring to go.

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The Westin Diplomat Resort was the host hotel and venue, all in one, for the Nationals. Wow! What a gorgeous place! Our room was the corner with a balcony overlooking nothing but miles of the beautiful turquoise waters of the ocean. Our room was very well-appointed and comfortable. The convention center was attached, and a simple elevator ride and short walk from our room. So convenient. The hall was HUGE–both the contest and the Expo were all in the one big room. They had big screens up and we could even see the contest while we were backstage on the screens.

The Expo was awesome, and star-studded. I saw one of my heroes, Jennifer Nicole Lee, who is just as gorgeous in person as in her pictures, and taller than I expected. Miss Figure Olympia, Nicole Wilkins-Lee was there, as was the current Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler and last year’s Mr Olympia Dexter Jackson. We met Dexter’s fiancee, Gail, in the fitness center, and she was one of the sweetest, most outgoing people I met during the whole time we were there. What a great lady! We scored some great deals at the Expo, and I even made some great contacts with VPX Sports, and hope to be hired to represent them soon for modeling in some shows and booths at various places.

I met the awesome owner and creator of my FAVORITE supplement Sun Warrior Raw Vegan Protein, Nick Stern! He is a fireball in person, as I knew he would be. This new product is so amazing, and really needs to be more well-known in the marketplace. We discussed some possible strategies, so look for some cool new videos and things coming out soon featuring me and the awesome Sun Warrior products. They have some really cool things on the horizon too, so stay tuned for more muscle-building foods to come! You can order Sun Warrior by clicking the link to the right of the page. It’s an absolute MUST in my nutrition program, and I highly recommend it!

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I want to also thank my incredible husband and Soul Mate, Michael, for all his support, encouragement, and unwavering love throughout my journey. He is my rock, and I appreciate him so much. He was by my side the whole weekend, helping me any way he could, the entire time we were there. Many of my Bombshell ’sistas’ commented on how great he was, and I am so proud to be the one on his arm. He is a true treasure, and the answer to my prayers. If I lost everything else, and still had Michael, I would still be the luckiest, most blessed woman in the world. I love you, My Baby!!!

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So now begins my new journey, through “Improvement Season”, to next year’s competition circuit. I hope each of you will join me on this great adventure of self development, and self-discovery. Your friendship, support and encouragement means the world to me! You can support me even further by joining Team Defiance, and I will support YOU in turn with great workouts and superior nutrition plans! See the Team Defiance tab at the top of the website page.

Have an incredibly blessed Thanksgiving, full of love and laughter, and be grateful for all your blessings. Your health is your greatest gift! If it’s not where you want it to be, Be Defiant! Defy all the forces keeping you down, and let’s get going on YOUR new adventure to vibrant health!

Be Defiant!

Christy

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It’s been a very calm & smooth day.  I awoke at 6:30 & accomplished an amazing amount by 9am.  Michael went out to the gym & to run errands, so I had the run of the house & I took full advantage.

I am feeling good about my condition, although I hope I drop a good bit more water before tomorrow morning.  I am NOT going to try to carb up this time.  I am going to stick with high protein & ‘fat load’ a bit with nut butters & coconut oil & butter.  I am taking the herbal diuretics with every meal, along with senna & aloe as gentle laxatives to completely empty my colon.   The abs have got to be as flat as possible!

I looked up some of the bikini winners from the past couple of months, and was really surprised at the soft, even a bit fat, condition at some of the competitors.  The winners still looked pretty good, but definitely not muscular at all.  It will be so interesting to see what they do this weekend.  I am still betting on lean and somewhat muscular, but it may be a complete surprise.  It is still so new that there are not enough contests that have taken place yet to create a trend and a preferred ‘look’.

First thing this morning, I had a little bit of coffee/Teecino mix.  And I made a ‘diuretic’ green smoothie containing dandelion greens, celery, asparagus, parsley, a tiny Granny Smith apple, a kiwi, Vanilla Sun Warrior protein (1 ½ scoops), vanilla liquid stevia, & 1 Tbs of hemp seeds.  Actually not bad, although I was definitely not sure about putting the asparagus in it, but I didn’t taste it at all.

I am avoiding spirulina today and tomorrow.  I don’t know how much sodium is in it, but I am thinking that it may have a good bit because it is a sea algae, or at least has a lot of iodine.  Anyway, I don’t want to take a chance of it causing me to retain any water.

I made some incredibly decadent chocolate fudge again for the pre-stage sugar shock feed to go along with the red wine, which brings out the muscularity & vascularity when you take them in about 30 minutes before stepping onstage.  It is a concoction of raw cacao, cacao butter, coconut oil, carob, Celtic salt, pecans, Goji berries, & lots of honey.  MMMmmmmmm……….That will also probably be either the post contest pigout or breakfast Sunday morning, or BOTH!  J

There is a raw restaurant in Charleston called The Sprout, and I really hope we get to go check it out.  It is the only raw restaurant in South Carolina, and I have never had the opportunity to visit a raw restaurant. 

I am now writing this in the truck on the road on the way to Charleston.  We are on time, so far, and traffic is heavy but moving.   We have to wait until 3PM to check into our hotel, and I have my weigh-in and check-in for the contest between 5 & 7 PM.  The contest is at the Charleston Performing Arts Center, which is incredibly nice.  I competed in the 2003 NPC Figure Competition in the same venue, and it was great. 

We are planning to hit the beach for just a couple of hours before heading back home on Sunday.  I just love the ocean so much, so I really want to get my toes in the sand and play in the salt water.  I don’t need a tan—haha!   I look ridiculous in person now, with all the ProTan I have on.

I wonder how many other competitors who will be there this weekend are even vegan, much less ‘high raw vegan’ like myself?    But how will I ever know how well a high raw vegan athlete can do unless I compete in the mainstream competitions?  The natural contests are obviously the best place for me, but they definitely do not have the exposure and prestige of the NPC & IFBB.  Those athletes are the ones you see in all the big magazines, and are owned by none other than Joe Weider.  Admit it—you probably have at least one piece of Weider fitness equipment somewhere in your house right now!  He has sold more exercise equipment/’clothesracks’ than just about anyone else.  (Hopefully, as a Team Defiance Member, yours is not just gathering dust!)  

It’s like in the song “New York, New York”……If I can make it THERE, I’ll make it ANYWHERE……..So if I can make it in the NPC, I can make it anywhere.  And if not, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t because I don’t eat cooked food or meat, it’s simply because they were looking for something different than I presented.  But I hope that other athletes will be inspired to follow my lead and go in there and WIN!

I will update you as the contest progresses.  Stay tuned, and BE DEFIANT!

Christy

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Wow, sorry I have been so long between posts lately.   I am really trying to get more sleep, especially because I have been reading up on how important sleep is to building muscle.  Getting home after 9:30 every night and then trying to get in bed at a decent hour is tough.  I am usually up by 6am or so, and if not, Jukebox will make SURE that I am!   He starts ‘Wowing’ ,wanting his fish, very, very early.  so to get 8 hours sleep, I need to be in bed by 10PM.  It never happens.  It’s after 11PM now.  Sigh.

I have decided to go for it and do a big competition next weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, in Charleston, SC.   I am competing in the NPC JR USA Championships, and I am entering the new ‘Bikini’ division.  The guidelines as to what the judges will be looking for in our physiques is completely nebulous–clear as mud.   It says, balance and symmetry, facial beauty, poise and stage presence.  Uh…OK.  Do they want cut or soft?  Ripped or just defined?  Striated and veinous or smooth?  Who knows?   

But I love competing, and here is my logical thought process: 

The NPC is the amateur division of the big professional bodybuilding and fitness league, the IFBB.  It’s the one in all the magazines, through Weider Enterprises.  Believe me, there is no drug testing in this league!  It is SO not natural, and doesn’t pretend to be natural.  So my thought is, since the Figure women in the IFBB are very big and muscular, almost indistinguishable from the bodybuilders, then the new Bikini division is meant to be more mainstream.  Which is what Figure was supposed to be.  But the same judges judge the entire show, from the biggest male bodybuilders right down to the Figure girls, and I assume they will be judging Bikini as well.  They are human.  They are trained to look for muscularity in the bodybuilders, and I have seen time and time again that they just can’t shift gears out of the muscle mindset when judging Figure.  So I think they will still be rewarding muscle in the Bikini division, just not as much muscle as the Figure division.  So I am thinking that I should come in very lean and showing muscle.  A natural Figure competitor should theoretically do well in Bikini in the NPC. 

But they may just be looking for T&A with the soft, skinny-obese model look in the fashion magazines.  Who knows?  I doubt it, but everyone is coming in blind.  So it will be a great trip, a wonderful experience, and a great vacation.  Michael is taking our little fishing boat, the ‘Once Bitten’, and we are going to fish the Intercoastal Waterway the two days after the competition.  Charleston is so gorgeous and charming.  It’s a great opportunity to go and have some fun, plus I love having the goal to work toward.

That is important to me–to have a goal.  If I was just going to the gym every day, with no goal, I tend to get complacent, not work as hard, or even blow it off.  Like yesterday, I felt very tired and drained.  I wanted to take a nap instead of work out, especially because it was chest day and I just don’t like working chest very much.  But my goal was forefront in my mind, and I challenged myself  by thinking that some other competitor is working harder than I am, so I jumped right in and had a great workout.   I started with pushups alternated with plyometric jumps on a bench, and my legs are sore from that today.  So I accomplished alot with the workout, and I probably wouldn’t have even done it without a goal–my big ‘WHY’.

What’s your WHY?  And if you don’t have one, find one.  Set a goal, and then ask yourself WHY is this goal important?  And keep asking until you get to the real root of WHY the goal is important.  And then you have something that can ignite a burning desire.

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Side note:  I found the perfect shirt for me the other day!  It’s a black tank top, with a white pirate skull and crossbones, and it says “Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History”  Whoo-hooo!  Defiance, itself!  I love it. 

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Meals:  I am already into contest prep this time, having started this past weekend.   I started earlier, feeling that I didn’t allow enough time for the last contest.  I just love how I feel on the precontest plan, although it is difficult logistically.  I am focusing on high protein, while trying to keep the fats low, and avoiding as much natural sugars as possible–keeping it low carb by eating vegetables and greens instead of fruit.   I do miss my fruit.  That is tough!

I am writing a recipe book that will detail the exact foods I am eating to achieve the rapid bodyfat and water retention loss for the contest, as well as awesome muscle-building foods for the ‘off-season’ where a competitor like myself concentrates on gaining muscle by taking in a lot of good quality calories and nutrition.  I will let you know when it is ready.  I hope to have it out soon, and am working on it every day. 

As always, Be Defiant!  Misbehave, and make some history today!

Christy
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